Tyrone Spong is a crazy man. No, not in a bad way, but in the sense that he is just a tough dude. When Spong went down this weekend at GLORY 15 there was no screaming, no pained looks. Spong was stoic in the face of a possibly career-threatening injury. He handled it like a boss, it was incredible. Now it is Wednesday and Tyrone Spong has posted a video on Instagram of him up and walking.

Yes, he's a bit shaky and can't put his full weight on his leg just yet, but the man broke his shin on Saturday night and come Wednesday is walking without assistance. Crazy.

Today is a breakneck big news day, which we here at LiverKick are very okay with. The fight that we've been hearing for GLORY 11 Chicago for a while now has been Australian superstar Nathan Corbett vs. Tyrone Spong, and yes, it is official! On top of that there will also be the rumored Heavyweight Grand Slam Tournament, featuring Daniel Ghita, Anderson "Braddock" Silva, Rico Verhoeven and Gokhan Saki.

This one night, four man tournament will crown the king of the Heavyweight division (with Semmy Schilt retired) and will bring an incredible night of top level competition to the Chicago area. This will crown the new GLORY Heavyweight Champion and do so on US soil airing live on Spike TV! Stay tuned for more updates on GLORY 11, including the rest of the card.

Because we've wanted to get to the bottom of this whole Gerges mess, we've reached out to a lot of really strong sources on the matter, you know, the reliable type that is always happy to talk about stuff. Well, no one is saying a word about the Hesdy Gerges situation right now, which to me is not exactly the greatest sign, but could also be good for Hesdy Gerges as I simply think that a lot of people aren't sure what is going on.

There is one man that is talking, and he is talking about the other thing we care about; FIGHTS. Daniel Ghita has sparked a new rumor by appearing on Romanian television to talk about his upcoming fight, which he has no opponent. Apparently there are two men in contention right now to fight Ghita and both of them are very worthy replacements. The first is Tyrone Spong. Spong is the muay thai standout that within the under 95kgs division was seen as the best fighter, bar none. Well, he wanted to compete on the K-1 level, so he bulked up, and the results were mixed at first, but there has definitely been a positive change.

A fight with Ghita could be great for his career and a giant win that he has been looking for. The other opponent? None other than the Bad Boy himself, Badr Hari. Badr Hari is ready to fight, as he has been training since his release from prison and has recently been preparing to fight in May. We might not have to wait that long, though, as with Gerges on the shelf, Badr Hari could very well be his replacement and kick off 2011 with style, clashing with Daniel Ghita.

So, who would you like to see Ghita fight in the main event of It's Showtime's event on March 6?

You gotta hand it to Tyrone Spong for keeping a positive attitude in the face of his horrific leg break against Gokhan Saki earlier this year. In this interview MMAFighting caught up with Tyrone Spong from this past weekend in Brazil, where he was cornering fellow Blackzilian Gilbert Burns. A few interesting points came up from this interview, the first being that he confirms that his contract with GLORY has expired and that there is no new contract just yet. He feels that he did a lot for the organization and is expecting an offer, but nothing yet.

He's still under contract to World Series of Fighting, but as we've seen before, if the UFC comes knocking, Ray Sefo and company aren't going to force him to stay by any means. Interestingly enough he's looking towards trying his hand at professional boxing to both let his leg heal up some more and to regain some of that confidence that he might be missing after the injury.

The news about Badr Hari, Gokhan Saki and Tyrone Spong’s imminent departures from the sport of Kickboxing behind to pursue other interests in the combat sports world has had the world talking about Heavyweight Kickboxing, but most of the discussion has not been complimentary, instead it has been gloom and doom. It is understandable to be upset over three big stars departing the world of Kickboxing; Saki and Hari for Boxing and Spong for MMA, because over the past few years they have been the golden standard of “young fighters” and shown a strong future for the sport. Yet the talk is that the well has gone dry, that there is no money in Kickboxing because of K-1’s financial distress and that elite talent will no longer look to Kickboxing as a viable career.

This is incredibly inaccurate and echoes a lot of the same sentiments that were heard about Boxing when MMA began to rise into prominence. Many were quick to declare Boxing as a dead sport or at least on a steady enough decline to where within a matter of years Mixed Martial Arts would completely over take it and no more young talent would turn to Boxing. Instead we’ve seen Boxing continue to march forward, new stars being developed and dominant fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, the Klitschko brothers and more steal headlines and attract more and more fans. MMA enthusiasts will argue that there are so few big Boxing PPVs that of course the big fights drawing in the million buys or more range makes sense, that UFC’s business model is to get consistent buys for lesser fights. Boxing fans would note that no UFC fighter outside of Brock Lesnar has the ability to draw mainstream interest or PPV buys like a Floyd Mayweather or a Manny Pacquiao can.

The truth is somewhere in the middle, where both sports are entirely different sports and can easily co-exist with there still being a wealth of talent in each sport. For Kickboxing the same is true. There is no doubt that as MMA grows it will attract some talented fighters who could have otherwise made a successful career in Kickboxing, Boxing or Muay Thai, but that does not mean that any sport will be run out of business or talent because of it. Each sport is distinctly different and some fighters find their calling and stick with it. Not every fighter has a passion for grappling like they do for stand up fighting, why would they jump to a sport like MMA where in the United States traditional wrestling dominates a lot of where the fights take place and how they are paced?

In Europe and Asia there is still strong support for Kickboxing and Muay Thai, with it built into the culture much like in the Midwestern United States strong wrestling programs are built into the culture and in urban areas of the United States youth Boxing programs are there. Children grow up learning how to Kickbox in the Netherlands, UK, Australia and many other countries, it is hard to imagine a sport like Kickboxing simply dying off because of a predominantly American sport like MMA is finally starting to create “millionaires” as Dana White has gone on record stating.

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The cases for Badr Hari, Gokhan Saki and Tyrone Spong leaving the Kickboxing world are indeed a sad loss, but are not anywhere near fatal. The fighter who had the longest, most successful run in K-1 was Badr Hari, who has made it to the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals twice, and both times choked under the pressure and never captured the championship. Badr Hari’s splash on the K-1 scene came in 2005 when he KO’d Stefan Leko with the “Leko Buster.” It took Badr until 2008 before he qualified for a K-1 World Grand Prix and saw any success, before having a few breakdowns which led to suspensions and trouble with the law. In a way, losing a fighter like Badr Hari benefits Kickboxing as his ties to organized crime and his actions in the ring do not put a positive light on the sport.

Tyrone Spong began his career ten years ago, at age 16, fighting at -66kg (145lbs) before making his professional debut at age 18 fighting at Middleweight, -72kg (158lbs). Spong continued moving up in weight until he hit around -86kg (189lbs), which seemed like his natural weight for his frame. Even when competing at -95kg (209lbs) he seemed extremely small compared to the rest of his competition, but he kept winning so he kept fighting. His transition into being a Heavyweight in K-1 was extremely rough, with 2009 being his first real shot at K-1 where Gokhan Saki was able to put an end to his growth temporarily, but he continued to put on weight and move towards a career as a K-1 Heavyweight. Spong now weighs 103.5kg (228lbs) and 2010 was his first World Grand Prix where he saw any actual success. Spong illustrates the problems of K-1 only having two dominant weight classes and why organizations like It’s Showtime having multiple weight classes with tough competition is good for fighters like Spong to help them develop into natural weight classes without feeling like they are missing out on real competition.

Gokhan Saki is yet another fighter like Spong who was newly crowned as part of the “Elite” of the Heavyweight world. Saki made his advance on K-1 in 2006, but never became a part of the discussion as a top level Heavyweight until he won the 2008 Hawaii GP. Then a win over Ray Sefo in the Final 16 and Ruslan Karaev in the Final 8 was his coming out party. 2008 was a big year for K-1 and fans in the United States, as it was the first year that HDnet aired the K-1 World Grand Prix and where a new generation of fans were introduced to a very accessible K-1. In the presentation, fighters like Badr Hari and Gokhan Saki were seen immediately as the best Kickboxers in the world, when the reality was that was Badr Hari’s first WGP and it was Saki’s first WGP. This has been both a blessing and a plight, as many fans have latched onto them and pinned hopes for the future onto their backs, possibly unfairly, when they’ve yet to show the staying power of a Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, Semmy Schilt or Remy Bonjasky.

Before 2008 Hair and Saki were brought up as prospects, but they were not yet a part of the K-1 elite. In just three years time we’ve seen the “brand” value of Badr Hari and Gokhan Saki skyrocket, with Tyrone Spong’s gutsy performance against Alistair Overeem in 2010 raising his stock as well, to where newer fans are seeing them as indispensable parts of the Kickboxing world, while they were just fighters who were coming into their own and had not yet reached the level of true “greats.”

Things can happen fast in Kickboxing, especially with K-1 as the “hub” for what is considered greatness. If you only follow K-1 you’ll only see what fits their agenda. Fighters like Singh Jaideep won a regional tournament with a weak field to be introduced into K-1. This helps with “political” moves by being a fighter from India who trains in Japan and gives K-1 more of an international feel to World Grand Prix events without running their usual regional qualifiers. The inclusion of a fighter like Jaideep does not speak for the depth of Kickboxing talent as much as it does how K-1 does business. The same goes for Brazil’s Ewerton Teixeira who won the 2008 WGP in Fukuoka Qualifying Tournament and has since then served as the “Brazil” representative.

Daniel Ghita has quickly moved up the international rankings and become one of the top fighters in the Heavyweight Kickboxing world, much like Saki, Spong and Hari. Ghita made his K-1 debut in 2009 by winning the Final 16 Qualifying GP when no one had predicted his win. He was eliminated in the Final 16 but made a good showing in Super Fights for K-1 which helped him be invited back in 2010. Ghita is seen as one of the younger fighters who will be a mainstay and possibly even win the K-1 World Grand Prix after some more polish and he has only been on the K-1 scene for two years now. A lot can happen in a short amount of time, the right eyes just have to be watching.

To help LiverKick.com’s fans out, LiverKick.com will start taking a look at Heavyweight Kickboxers that they might not be familiar with due to not fighting in K-1 yet to help illustrate that Heavyweight Kickboxing is in no real danger, nor will it be for a very long time.

GLORY is planning something big for their Spike TV debut. Originally the bout which was set for the fall was Semmy Schilt vs. Gokhan Saki, with Saki challenging for Schilt's Heavyweight Championship, but as we now know, Schilt showing up is a long shot at best. Glory have been pushing for Schilt to continue fighting, but with Bas Rutten's announcement on Monday it seems like everyone is admitting that Semmy Schilt is probably not going to continue fighting.

The rumored headlining bout for the GLORY Spike TV debut is none other than Gokhan Saki against Tyrone Spong, which makes a lot of sense as both men are more popular among American audiences and are the top fighters in Glory's rankings (of course Daniel Ghita sits in between them, but it happens). Tyrone Spong was the headliner for GLORY's American debut in New York City, winning the Light Heavyweight Slam tournament.

The two met in 2009 in K-1, with Gokhan Saki defeating Spong via TKO in an Extension Round.

Glory 9 brought great action to kickboxing fans this past Saturday. The event also helped the Glory promotion name its first light heavyweight Slam champion, and provided everyone a greater sense of who’s who in a long-underrepresented division. Glory will now have to attract additional talent from around the world to bolster the ranks of an already strong group of light heavyweights. This series of articles looks at kick boxers that we at LiverKick would have liked to see in Saturday’s tournament and hope Glory can bring into the fold going forward.

Ondrej Hutnik is a 30-year-old southpaw fighting out of Prague, Czech Republic. While his tendency to fight domestically is a concern for some fans, Hutnik has put together a substantial win streak and continues to collect accolades at the light heavyweight mark. With one of the more established resumes in the weight class, it would be fitting to see the Czech kick boxer on kickboxing’s biggest stage.

Hutnik began his career near 147 pounds, and collected titles while moving up toward the light heavyweight division. In December 2005, Hutnik defeated Sem Braan – for the second time in roughly six months – to advance to the It’s Showtime 75MAX Trophy Final. When the final tournament rolled around in September 2006, the Czech fighter defeated Dmitry Shakuta and Joerie Mes before dropping a decision to Sahin Yakut in the championship bout. A victory over countryman Jiri Zak would follow, and Hutnik soon moved up to fight around 190 pounds.

The last defeat of Hutnik’s career came near that mark, as Tyrone Spong stopped him with a hellacious body shot in March 2008. Hutnik’s resume since includes a number of wins over recognizable names, including Redouan Cairo, James Phillips, and Hakan Aksoy. He became the 2011 Enfusion kickboxing tournament champion by following up wins against Wendell Roche and Thiago Martina with decision victories over Mohamed Boubkari and Frank Munoz in the same night. Hutnik has won six more bouts since, defeating Fight Code veteran Pacome Assi and Spanish standout Loren Javier Jorge along the way.

On June 14th, Hutnik topped Stefan Leko in the Czech city of Brno, stopping the K-1 veteran in the round of their championship bout. Hutnik landed a kick that clearly injured Leko’s right arm and led to the bout being immediately waved off.

For many fans, Hutnik’s biggest shortcoming may be his tendency to stay near home when entering the ring. Hutnik has not fought outside of the Czech Republic, or neighboring Slovakia, since early 2011. Considered in tandem with a decision-heavy record and lack of blistering speed, this has led some to question whether Hutnik’s success in recent years would be duplicated in a promotion like Glory.

Unlike our last featured fighter, Vladimir Mineev, Ondrej Hutnik does not have an upcoming bout scheduled at this time.

GLORY 11 Chicago goes down this weekend, yes, this weekend! Saturday, starting at 9pm Eastern time GLORY 11 Chicago will be on, delivering a Heavyweight tournament featuring the best Heavyweights in the world as well as Tyrone Spong vs. Nathan "Carnage" Corbett. The event will be broadcast in North America on Spike TV, which is a landmark event for us here in America. For those of you not lucky enough to live here in the US and get Spike TV, LiverKick has you covered, as we'll be once again carrying a live stream of the event, which can be ordered from anyone around the world, excluding the United States and ex-YU nations due to television rights.

Tyrone Spong has been one of the three names being tossed around as a fighter leaving the sport of Kickboxing in their rear view to pursue another sport. The other two are of course Badr Hari and Gokhan Saki who have lofty goals to move into the Heavyweight Boxing arena and make a huge impact. What actually happens is yet-to-be-seen, but for now there is no doubt what their intentions are. MMANation.com's Matt Roth went to UFC 136 and proves why it is nice for a friend and kickboxing fan to be at a big combat sports event like this, as he not only recognizes who Tyrone Spong is and interviews him, but asks him the right questions that people actually want to know about.

There are a few things here, first is his pretty frank assessment of Saki and Badr's chances in Boxing, then is his talk of moving on to MMA and how the fight with Melvin Manhoef in It's Showtime could also be Tyrone's Kickboxing swan song. Then of course, the World Grand Prix. Tyrone has long been rumored to be on the card, but it seems as of the UFC 136 Fan Expo Tyrone Spong is still owed money by FEG and isn't planning on fighting. It should also be noted that Tyrone recently had surgery on his knee and has been healing up, which could also play a big factor in his ability to fight in a few weeks, although he hasn't been talking about it much. [source]

We've documented that Tyrone Spong has been spending his time working with UFC fighter Rashad Evans, but it looks like Tyrone is working with Rashad's management, Authentic Sports Management and that they have big plans for him in 2012. What these plans are exactly is unclear, but the hype video says that Tyrone Spong is "coming" in 2012. One can only assume to the United States to fight, but then you have to ask the question of if this could possibly be in Mixed Martial Arts.